Flexible sheet insulation and method of producing the same



Jan. 9, 1934. G D] SH VER 1,942,733 v FLEXIBLE SHEET INSULATION ANDMETHOD OF PRODUCING THE SAME OriginalFiled Oct. 20. 1931 \nvenTor.

' Geof e DShaver byfwwwkm Patented Jan. 9, 1934 FLEXIBLE "SHEET "PATENTINSULATION ism) improvements in flexible sheets oifinely'cellularfibrous-insulaa tion, and the method *di' producing I the same,

and'the principal objector the invention'is to". 5 provide an insulationsheet comprising a-finely I l cellular sheet of fibrous insulatingmaterial-having a series of flexible binding strands extending acrossopposite races of the sheet and around the edgesthereoi and anchored inplace by lines 1 o! stitching in which'the stitches extend through v thematerial, with the cords of such stitches overlying and anchoringthestrands to the mar More: specifically, the invention relates to a 1gflexible insulation sheet comprising a finelyoellulsr sheet of fibrousinsulating-material 'hav-- ing a-binder wound transversely across the upper' and under laces oi the sheet and around the. edges thereofat spacedintervals, with par- 20 allel lines ot stitche's passing through thesheet and extending longitudinally thereot, thereby anchoringthe-binder: to the sheet at the points oiintersection;

I Ann-thee objector the invention is'to'provide' :5 a flexible sheet otinsulation' of the characteraboveispecifiedih'which the material iscomposedofpure rock wool.

: Another objectoi the invention is to provide" a" flexible" insulation"sheetcomprising a finely so cellular sheetoifibrous material." butpreferably rock wool prcvided" with a relatively thin backing sheet offibrous material,

binder cords wound transverselyacross theupper and lower faces ofthesheets 5 and extending around :theedges thereof, with .lines 01-stitches passing through the superim- "posed sheets, and prei'erablylying in parallelism intersecting the binder cords and anchoring thesame to the sheets at the points of inter-- 40 section.

A turtherzobiect or invention is to provide a method of making aflexible insulation sheet of the character specified which comprisescontinuouslv producing a finely Y cellular travelling 5 sheet offlbrousinsulating material, preferably pure rock wool, continuously winding aflexible binder around the travelling sheet as it is produced, 'therebycausing the strands extending transversely 'acros's the' upper. andlower ffaces so otthe sheet'tolieinsubstantlalparallelismand sewing thetravelling sheetthrough and through with a plurality oi lines ofstitches extending lonsitudinaliyoithesheet. f

These snd-otheriobiectsand features of the tending longitudinally oi thesheet and lowing description and the drawing and will 'be particularlypointed'out in the In the drawlngi I "rig. l'is a perspective view 02 anexlb'i'e'ih 'co sulation sheet the present invention; I l i :2 ms -diview '0! suitable I mechanism for continuously a sheet oi insulation ofthe'character above l6 ltzavins a backing'ei relatively fibroutins- Fig.3 is a'plan viewjoi a sheet of insulationor the character above having aplu-. a rality of sets oiflbinder cords" wound in opposite '70directions across the" and lower taces of the sheet and around the edgesthereof atlsn, angle to the longitudinal axis ,0! the sheet, withparallel lines of stitching extending'longitudi-r 'nallvoi the sheet,Jot the"transverse 7s "windings being oniitted'ior the purpose ofclearness; 7

' I Fig; 4 isa vertical sectional views of" a flexible. Shed? Ofinsulating thl! character above "specified having a o! relativelythin sotough fibrous material:

Fig. 5'is a sideelevation o! a shooter the characterdescribedl fivlnfseouredwo thebaching a covering sheet extending beyond the end oi thesheetand adapted to overlap the contiguous as edges or the sheet whenthe sheet is rolled into cylindrical form; p Q I Fig. '6 is averticalsectional I view of spine wrapped with an insulation sheethavinga backing, but no cover, of the character above de-"eo scribed;and, I U i Fig. '1- is a view illustrating a pine wrapped with the sheethaving a backing r the character in P18. 5.

The insulation sheet illustrated' ln Fig. 1 com- 96 prises a fiat body 1of fibrous insulating material, preferably pure rock wool, with a bindercordl- I wrapped "continuously across the upper andlower races of thesheetand the edges thereof, with lines of stitching 8 ex the binder2 tothe body o! the sheet at the of intersection of the stitches andl'binder. sheet desirably isprcvided with shocking] o! fibrous material,such'aspape'r, cloth, or-!elt, and in; desirably the binder extends somem of the sheet of insulating thence around the edges oi'both theinflating material and y the backing,"and acrossthoesposedtace'oitho s5inventionnwilimore fully appear from the 101- heenhe' he stitchesextending through both the. no

sheet of insulating material.

The binder illustrated in Fig. 1 is a single cord ,wound transversely ofthe sheet in parallel strands extending .substantially at right angles;to the longitudinal axis of the sheet and the lines of stitching whichpass through and through the sheet and its backing extend in parallelismto the longitudinal axis of the sheet at spaced intervals substantiallyequal to the-space between the par-. allel binding strands.

Fig. 4, which is a transverse sectional view of the sheet illustratedin' Fi'g.'1, shows the manner in which the binder extendstransverselyaround the sheet and is anchored thereto by the'longitudinal lines ofstitchings Fig. 3 illustrates a sheet 1' or insulating ma-..

terial in which a plurality or series of binder cords 5 and 6 are woundin opposite directions across the upper and lower: faces of the sheet 1;I around the edges thereof, with longitudinal par-,

either Figs. 1 and 3 with, acovering sheet flse- 8 projecting beyond oneof the ends of the-sheet.

' cured to the backing ,2, preferably by glue, or

other suitable adhesive, and having an extension When such a sheet isemployed for pipe covering it is wound aboutthe pipe 9, as illustratedin Fig.

astoflxedly secure the insulation upohthe pipe.

' binder cord, is disposed ataproperqang'le to the '7, and theex'tension8 overlapped and l d, or

otherwise secured, to the cover in such a manner The method of producingthe insulation sheet An insulation sheetof the character abovede-fscribed maybe produced by hand or by suitable, .machinery. If producedbyhandthe flbrousmaterial is spread from a suitable support into a sheetof substantially uniform thickness and ing the same across the upperface; of the sheet around'the edge thereofQthence across the lowerfacefof the sheet, and around the edge-thereof,

so that the strands upon the upper and lower 1 faces of the sheetlieinsubstantial parallelism.

The sheet is then stitched through and through:

,by lines of stitching extending longitudinally of the sheet. Such linesofstitching may be produced by hand or by a sewing machine and preferably extend in parallelism to the longitudinal axis of the sheet. Thethreads of the lines of stitching, which lie upon the upper and lowersurfaces of the sheet, or of the backing, if 'a backing is employed,serve to anchor the binder cords firmly to the sheet at the point ofintersection prises suitable means, such as .aYfeeder. 10 fordeliveringna continuous sheet 11 oirock wool, or

, 70, in any 'suitablem'annerr Desirably pressing and .others'uitablefibrous material, upon a backing layer. .12which desirably is drawn-froma spool 13.a1ong the upper lead 14 of an endles belt mounted uponrolls'15 and 16 which are driven smoothing mus 1'7 and 18 are providedto compress. the sheet to the desiredthickness, and to insure itsuniformity, Such rolls desirablyare driven a a'speed somewhat in oi; thesur-.

illustrated in Fig. '1'.

the respective binder cordsdelivered belts will be laid in parallelismacross the travelling'sheet at reversely arranged angles to the axis(sheet oi' insulating material, eitherwith or without a backing, may bemadeeither manually, or by insulating material and the backing, therebyanchoring the binder and also the backing to the of insulating materialand driven in any suitable manner (not shown) so that the spool willtravel across the upper face of the sheet around the edges thereof andbeneath the backing.

The sheet, which is thus continuously formed and bound, is carriedacross the bed plate 22 of a suitable gang sewing machine provided witha plurality of heads 23, one of which is shown,

and having a container 24 for the complementary stitch formingmechanism, so that a plurality of lines of stitches are simultaneouslyformed longitudinally of the sheet as it passes across the bed plate22of the sewing-machine.

The bed plate may be provided with one or more anti-friction rolls 25for-supporting the sheet and if desired a suitable cutter 26 may beprovided and actuated at suitable intervals to sever the sheetthuscontinuously produced into desirableuniform lengths. y

The endless belt, carrying the spool of-binder,

maybe arranged at right angles to -the longitudinal axis of thetravellingsheet, and the sheet fed intermittently lay the binder:strands in parallelism across the respective upper and lower faces ofthe sheet, as illustrated in Fig. 1, or the sheetmaybe advancedcontinuously -,to lay the binder strands transversely of the respectiveupper and lower'faces of the sheetin parallelism at an angle to thelongitudinal-.axisof thesheet.-

-' If the travelling belt, which carries the spool of longitudinaldirection of movement of the web, andthe-speed; at which the endlessbelt 21 is drivenis properlyco-ordinated to the speed atwhich thecontinuousgsheet travels..the.binding ,cords may be laidacrosstherespective upper and lower faces of the sheet in parallelism and atright consistency to. provide a finely cellular sheet 0! insulation. Abinder cord, 0! a plurality ofbinder cords, arethen wound around 'thesheet by passangles to the longitudinal axis of the sheet, as

l 1f-the endless belt, which carries the binder, is provided witha-pluralityof spools of binder cord, or ii aplurality of belts,-carrying binder spools, are employed, aseriesofparallel binder cords maybe'wound in parallelism across theree spective upper and lower faces ofthe sheet at uniformly spacedintervals. If-aplurality of endless belts,carrying binder cords, are employed, and alternate belts driven inopposite directions,

by such of the sheet, thereby producing a diamond-shaped arrangement ofbindercords, as illustrated in Fig. 3. All of such binder cords will beanchored, to the sheet by the lines ofstitching, at the points of,intersection of the lines of stitching with the respective strands, ofbinder .cords.

yBy reason of-the present invention, therefore, a

suitable mechanism. ;Th e-.strands of binder cord upontheynpperandlowenfaces: of 'the sheet, and if desireditsbacking'also, may be spacedvat such intervals as willinsurepermanent binding oifthe sheet. andprevent the otherwise'loose rock wool,; or other, fibrous.material,v:i'rom becoming loosened from the body of the sheet.

The winding oi the binderaround the edges of the sheet in particularprevents fraying the sheet, or the carrying away of the material at theedge portion of the sheet which commonly occurs in sheets of insulatingmaterial which have hitherto been produced. Furthermore, sheets ofinsulating material, particularly where pure rock wool, or other fibrousmaterial are employed to produce a finely cellular sheet, are sore-enforced by the binding cords and the anchoring stitches that thesheets are self-supporting and can be roughly handled without detrimentto the sheet.

It, therefore, follows that sheets of insulating material made inaccordance with my-invention are far superior to those which havehitherto been produced, particularly where the sheets are constructedfor use as refrigerator linings, for pipe coverings,'for boiler and tankinsulation, for wall insulation,- and numerous other uses to which in--sulating material of this character is applied.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new, and desiredto be secured by Letters Patent, is:

1. A flexible insulation sheet comprising a finely cellular sheet offibrous insulating material having a binder wound transversely acrossthe upper and under faces of said sheet and around the edges thereof atspaced intervals and having parallel lines of stitches passing throughsaid sheet and extending longitudinally thereof, anchoring the binder tothe sheet at the points of intersection.

2. A flexible insulation sheet comprising a finely cellular sheet offibrous insulating material having a plurality of binder cordscontinuously wound in opposite directions and in angular relation to thelongitudinal axis of the sheet across the upper and lower faces of saidsheet and around the edges thereof, and having a plurality of parallellines of stitches passing through said sheet and extending transverselyof said binder cords, and anchoring said cords to said sheet at thepoints of intersection.

3. A flexible insulation sheet comprising a finely cellular sheet offibrous insulating material provided with a relatively thin backingsheet of tough fibrous material, with'binder cords woundtransverselyacross the upper and lower faces of said superimposed sheetsand extending around the edges thereof, with the'strands of said binderupon the upper and lower, faces lying in parallel-' ism and at an angleto the longitudinal axis of said sheet, and a series of parallel linesof stitches passing through said superimposed sheets and extendinglongitudinally'of said sheets, and anchoring said binder cords to saidsheets at the points of intersection.

4. A flexible insulation sheet comprising a finely cellular sheet offibrous insulating material provided with a relatively thin backingsheet of tough fibrous material and having a seriesyof binder cordswound'in parallelism transversely across the upper and lower-faces ofsaid superimposed sheetsand extending around the edges thereof with thestrands ofsaid binder upon the upper and lower faces lyingin parallelismand at an angle to the longitudinal axis of the sheet, and anotherseries of binder cords wound in the opposite direction transverselyacross the upper and lower faces of said superimposed sheets andextending around the edges thereof, with the strands of said bindercords upon the upper and lower faces lying in parallelism and at anangle to the longitudinal axis of the sheet, and a series of parallellines of stitches passing through said superimposed sheets and extendinglongitudinally of said sheets and anchoring said binder cords to saidsheets at the points of intersection.

5. A flexible insulation sheet comprising a finely cellular sheet ofpure rock wool having a fibrous binder cord wound transversely acrossthe upper and under faces of the sheet and around the edges thereof atspaced intervals with the strands of said binder upon theupper'and lowerfaces lying in substantial parallelism, and a series of parallel linesof stitches passing through said sheetand extending longitudinallythereof and anchoring said binder cords to said sheets at the points ofintersection.

6. The method of making a flexible insulation sheet which comprisescontinuously producing a finely cellular travelling sheet of fibrousinsulating material, continuously winding a flexible binder around saidtravelling sheet as it is produced thereby causing the strands extendingtransversely across the upper and lower faces of the sheet to lie inparallelism, and sewing the travelling sheet through and through with aplurality of lines of parallel stitches extending longitudinallythereof.

'7. The method of making a flexible insulation sheet which comprisescontinuously assembling upon a travelling backing sheet of tough fibrousmaterial, a cellular sheet of fibrous insulating material of uniformthickness, continuously winding transversely about said travellingsheets a binder cord of flexible fibrous material and stitching thetravelling sheet longitudinally with a plurality of lines of stitchesextending longitudinally of the sheets, thereby anchoring the bindercords to the sheet and backing at the points of intersection.- s

8. The methodof makings flexible insulation sheet which comprisescontinuously producing a finely cellular travelling sheet of fibrousinsulating material, continuously winding a plurality oi' flexiblebinder cords around the travelling sheet .as it is produced, therebycausing the strands ing material, continuously winding binder cords Y inopposite directions across the upper and lower faces of the sheet andaround the edges thereof and stitching the travelling sheetlongitudinally with aplurality of lines of stitching, intersecting thebinder cords and anchoringthe same. to the sheet.

GEORGE D. SHAVER.

